In an object store, data is exposed and managed in the form of objects instead of files or blocks. Different objects can include different amounts and types of unstructured data but each object is identified by a globally unique identifier. Objects can therefore be stored in a flat address space such as a storage pool. The unique identifier of a given object allows an application or other requesting entity to retrieve that object without needing to know the physical location in which the object is stored. Accordingly, object stores abstract away complexities associated with lower level storage functions.
Object stores are often utilized in cloud storage environments. Examples of cloud-based object stores include Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage.